If you look at fight fans who follow the UFC heavily, there is a good chance they began as a fan of 1 of 3 fighters. Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, or Tony Ferguson. In their primes Conor and Tony seemed unbeatable. In Nate's prime he made unbeatable fighters look beatable and was one of the toughest fights in the UFC. UFC 279 has brought me to remenisce on the primes of these fighters and what form they are in now.
Watching Tony and Nate go at it was fun because of the characters they are, but to be perfectly honest the fight was mediocre at best. The two that fought over the weekend are pretty clearly out of their primes. Nate says he will come back after "taking over another sport." I hope he stays retired and ends on the win.
Tony said to Joe Rogan after the fight that he was "back" and in my opinion he looked far worse than he did in the first round of the Chandler fight. Maybe it was the move to 170? or maybe it is just time for the 38 year old to call it quits.
One fighter out of the three though, if he fully commits, I still believe can be in prime form- and thats Conor McGregor. I will not act like I am unbiased. The Notrious One brought me into the MMA scene and is the reason I will stay far past his career.
Although Conor's last two fights ended in defeat, I thought he looked like an elite fighter. He fought Dustin in his very own prime and hung with him well. He still has fire in his hands and I believe if he is all in he can capture another world title.
As for Diaz and Ferguson I think that dream is long gone. People talk about Conor McGregor like he is washed and 40 years old. The UFC star is only 34 years old. He has what I believe is a 2-3 year window where he can make something special happen.
I also think if he fights either of the legends that fought this past weekend he wins with little to no problem.
We will see what happens, but how can I not be optimistic? it is Mystic Mac we are talking about.
Written by Joe Gee
Top comments (1)
Conor fighting on-the-way-out-legends is just smart play all round. Start a winning run, generate tons of cash (although it's not like he needs it), and build a win streak, confidence, even more hype...
He definitely still "has it". Taking on Poirier was always silly, as you said he's been in his prime and is one of the best strikers in that division.
Coming back into the fold against Cerrone was extremely smart, but the rest has been far from it